Hello dear Steemians! Today I want to share with you story of swallows family which happened in the summer somewhere in the middle part of Russia.

About this swallows family I knew when I visited my relatives during my vacation. When I rested with them, I knew that a family of swallow settled in the neighbor house.

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And when I decided to get acquainted with this family closer, the swallows had already managed to make a nest above one of the windows of the house and lay eggs.

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Usually, in natural conditions, swallows nest in shallow rocky caves and crevices of conglomerate and shell rock, often along the banks of mountain rivers. In urban areas, mostly nest on the walls of houses and under bridges.
Nests are usually built under any shed - a roof, window eaves, relief decoration.
One nest is used by the pair for several years in a row, if necessary, annually repaired and completed.
The nest is a closed hemisphere of clumps of earth, glued to the wall and ceiling with adhesive saliva. The diameter of the socket 110-130 mm, height 70-120 mm. At the top of the sphere is a small entrance. From the inside, the nest is lined with grass, wool and other soft material that the bird picks up on the fly. The male and female are alternately engaged in nest equipment, bringing in a beak raw clumps of dirt and forming a spherical wall of them. Near the unfinished nest is constantly someone on duty, while the other bird produces building material.
All construction takes up to 12-14 days.
Normally, the clutch consists of 4-6 eggs and weighing about 1.7 g. It is predominantly hatched by the female for 14-15 days.

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And after some time, the chicks hatched chicks. At first time they were small and very compact with all the brood placed in the nest.

In the afternoon they were hardly audible, and taking advantage of the lull, slept.

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And while the chicks grew and gained strength during their nap, their parents flew and looked for food for them.

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Sometimes they would wake up briefly and fall asleep again.

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In the evening, closer to sunset, the chicks woke up the parents flew up to the nest and fed them.

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Also at night, the parents sat on the edge of the nest and guarded their offspring from uninvited guests.

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Time passed and the chicks began to grow up. They began to appear plumage and change the shape of the beak.

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And over time, the chicks became more awake during the daytime. They waited for parents with food, and studied the world from their nests.

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Due to the fact that the chicks began to grow up with the parents increased cares.

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Also, over time, an old, tricky cat began to look at the chicks. He went to the nest under it, and then went to bed nearby.

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But I must admit that he did not attempt on the life of chicks.

During the day, parents began feeding their chicks more often. But due to the fact that they were afraid of people during feeding, when one of them fed the chicks the other sat on guard so that someone from the people could not go unnoticed.

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And when just someone appeared on the horizon, they would fight off the spot to divert attention from the chicks and draw attention to themselves.

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Soon the chicks completely ceased to fit in the nest and sat on each other. Fortunately, none of them fell out of the nest.

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But parents had free time and already at night they did not guard their chicks and spent the night not at the nest but in another place.

So day after day, the chicks finally grew.

Once they have grown adult plumage and formed a beak like adult swallows.

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And then one morning, when I came to the neighbor house, I saw that the chicks had finally grown up and left their nest. Under the nest remained fluff and traces of vital activity of chicks.

Other swallows circled for several more days around the house. And then they flew away too.

That was my acquaintance with the life of swallows and their way of life while raising chicks.

A few days after the chicks flew off and my vacation ended.

Now, on cold days, reviewing photos, I remember with warmth the story of my acquaintance with a wonderful family of swallows!

Thank you for reading! Sincerely yours @travoved!

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